Three hours ago he had catched the last train after a gig in Leipzig, heading for his set in Berlin the very same night. But Dettmann missed to get off – and suddenly has found himself stuck at dead end Hamburg main station: no trains till morning, no one to call for a ride. Promptly – and without any hesitation about the ridiculous charge – he hires a cab, having only one thing in mind: Berlin, Berghain, the Club … Consequently nothing but the Club as a musical and cultural lifeworld forms and defines the life of Marcel Dettmann, who was born in the GDR in 1977 and raised with east-german youth culture. Influenced by EBM and Wave he faces the offspring of virgin Techno in early nineties’s Berlin and gets socialized with this new-born subcultural scene, whose way of life he shall live and develop untill today.
On the one hand he has spinned records since 1994 including residency continuum at Berlin’s Ostgut/Berghain right from its opening in 1999. On the other Dettmann started to produce and release tracks and remixes in 2006. Beside Ostgut Ton first and foremost his self-run label MDR provides the necessary and appropriate outlet: no compromise, free, independent, facilitating the “quest for the optimal track”. His engagement at Berlin’s Technosaur Hard Wax also supports his innate quest: the continuous exploration of electronic music development.
Dettmann’s persistent reply to inquiries on his DJ-style – no doubts about its foundational and just natural club-oriented functionality – simply and sparsely reads “dark” and “the dark side”. At a closer look this brings to light a certain fascination in Techno: a futuristic medium inherently pointing towards the new and unseen, unexplored and unknown, undefined and unexpected.
Marcel Dettmann liveset at Boiler Room, Berlin [29.12.2011]
+++ link +++
